Elysian Brewing Company Loser Pale Ale American Pale Ale at 7.0% ABV
Pours a clear orange amber with a thick cream head, great retention and chunky lacing. Nose is pine resin and grapefruit slightly edging out a caramel malt background, maybe a little citrus and tropical fruit. Taste is similar but a little muddled – the hops seem to have dulled and the malt is a little too present. Mouth feel is medium to full body, with low carbonation and a long, lingering bitter finish.
Gotta say, time and time again, I find that I’m not a big fan of Sorachi Ace hops. There’s something about them that I can’t put my finger on, but doesn’t completely work for me. They’re supposed to be light and lemony, but I get – for lack of a better comparison – cat piss, but only on the nose. Flavour-wise, this seems to be the right balance of light hops and mellow malt. Decent, but not a clear-cut winner, by any means.
And for the love of all that’s holy, why the hell can’t brewers put dates on their bottles? Is the muddled behaviour of the hops because it’s an old bottle, or because that’s the way it was brewed? Who knows? I sure as hell don’t, because there’s no human-readable date on the damn bottle! If your brew’s got a hop character, date the damn bottle!
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
